R
rayne89
Guest
I know it’s a weird title but it’s hard to put in the right words. My daughter just turned 12 last month. My relationship with my mom at this age was horrible and I guess I just expected a lot of angst and emotional drama around this age.
We all adore our kids and love them to peices as parents ofcourse but there is something different about this new stage of her maturity that makes her so much fun to be around. She’s not so little that I have to keep after her all the time, we can now shop together without her being bored unless we’re in the toy department and she is so darn helpful.
Even my mom has noticed a change. Last weekend she stayed the night at their house over night and when I called to see when we needed to pick her up my mom half-jokingly said “We can keep her.” She mentioned to me how she’s really growing up, how helpful she is. On Thanksgiving my mom she said she is so proud at the way I’m raising her. That is huge coming from my mom because compliments directed at me are very few and far between.
On Thanksgiving this was the first year she was in the kitchen wanting to help with everything. I taught her how to make cranberry sauce, we made a sweet potatoe pie together -anything and everything we asked her to do she was right on it. Usually she’s begs off so she can watch TV. (We don’t have TV at out house so she loves watching it at my parents house -it’s a treat.) And she usually finishes up dinner fast so she can go back to the TV. She didn’t do that this year, in fact she didn’t watch TV at all. She spent time with the family.
Last night it got late (we were out) before she got to doing the dishes, one of her normal chores so I said “Ok, first thing in the morning the dishes need to be done.” This morning I awoke to the sound of clanking dishes. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that she actually did what I said but I remember as a kid “forgetting” about my chores, procrastinating etc.
I love the relationship I have with her, she really talks to me, comes to me for advice on just about everything. I guess we have the relationship I so wished I had had with my mom. I know this sounds like a huge brag fest but it isn’t meant to be. I’m just amazed at my little girl and the person she is growing into.
Are there certain stages in your own children’s developement which were extra-special or times you enjoyed the most?
We all adore our kids and love them to peices as parents ofcourse but there is something different about this new stage of her maturity that makes her so much fun to be around. She’s not so little that I have to keep after her all the time, we can now shop together without her being bored unless we’re in the toy department and she is so darn helpful.
Even my mom has noticed a change. Last weekend she stayed the night at their house over night and when I called to see when we needed to pick her up my mom half-jokingly said “We can keep her.” She mentioned to me how she’s really growing up, how helpful she is. On Thanksgiving my mom she said she is so proud at the way I’m raising her. That is huge coming from my mom because compliments directed at me are very few and far between.
On Thanksgiving this was the first year she was in the kitchen wanting to help with everything. I taught her how to make cranberry sauce, we made a sweet potatoe pie together -anything and everything we asked her to do she was right on it. Usually she’s begs off so she can watch TV. (We don’t have TV at out house so she loves watching it at my parents house -it’s a treat.) And she usually finishes up dinner fast so she can go back to the TV. She didn’t do that this year, in fact she didn’t watch TV at all. She spent time with the family.
Last night it got late (we were out) before she got to doing the dishes, one of her normal chores so I said “Ok, first thing in the morning the dishes need to be done.” This morning I awoke to the sound of clanking dishes. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that she actually did what I said but I remember as a kid “forgetting” about my chores, procrastinating etc.
I love the relationship I have with her, she really talks to me, comes to me for advice on just about everything. I guess we have the relationship I so wished I had had with my mom. I know this sounds like a huge brag fest but it isn’t meant to be. I’m just amazed at my little girl and the person she is growing into.
Are there certain stages in your own children’s developement which were extra-special or times you enjoyed the most?
And my parents let me walk around alone when we visited Europe (mostly Paris, France but in Germany too) when I was 15. It’s weird because they were over protective in some ways but really not in others. I was a very responsible kid who would never trust a stranger but still no way at 15 would my kid be walking around a foreign country alone at 15 even she was very responsible.:nope: